The Stargaze Effect
by TheWolfBoss06
Summary: SI Story! What would you do when you find out you're stuck in a universe where everybody sees you as the enemy? I want nothing to do with Shepard, Saren, or the Reapers, all I want is to get back home, but someone behind the scene won't let me leave. In order to survive this dog-eat-dog universe, I must face assassins, terrorist groups, heroes, and myself. Neutral/Renegade SI


**Hello everybody, this is my first story and I hope you'll enjoy my own twist of a Self-Insert story in Mass Effect. I like to give thanks to Digital Sage and DavidJ647 for beta-reading this chapter. Go check out their SI stories if you haven't already. Now let the chapter begin!**

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><p><strong>The Stargaze Effect<strong>

**Chapter 1**

**The End is Nigh**

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><p>"I can't believe that asshole blew the damn game. Last seconds of the game and he dropped the fucking ball at the end zone. Fuck, Mickey is going to have a blast and I just know he's gonna wave the money in front of my face. I swear to God, if he does that..."<p>

I was attempting to fix the printer when I overhear two of my coworkers complaining next to me. It apparently sounds like Dave, the guy complaining, made a bet about the ball game last night. Looks like he lost some of his hard-earned money now. That's what gambling gets you, dumbass.

Bill, the tall man suffering Dave's complaints, rolls his eyes at his friend. "You were drunk at the time and you betted for the Cowboys. Honestly, you should know better. At least pick a team that _doesn't_ suck."

Dave snorts at his best friend's statement. "Hey, you don't go dissing the Cowboys. Besides, it's my money not yours so I don't hear you complaining."

The two began bickering as I turn my attention back to the printer. That shit was getting boring anyway. Although, it's kind of sad to know they get paid more money than I do. As I unsuccessfully look for a way to get the printer working, my pocket start vibrating. I sigh as I took this time to take a break from the damn printer and took out my phone that's the source of the vibration.

"Yeah, what is it?" I answer the phone lazily. Most of the people that calls my phone are either scam artists, wrong numbers, or my dumbass cousin. I hear some shuffling on the line before a familiar voice was heard. "Is that anyway to greet your cousin, man?" Well, what do you know...

Big Eddy, my fat ass cousin from my dad's side of the family, somehow got himself a job as a game designer. The truth is all he does is just sit on that fucking couch of his and play those damn video games. I like playing video games, but am I going to make it a living of mine? Hell no.

"What do you want, Eddy? I hope it's something important because you know I'm working now." I smack the side of the printer, which did nothing but cause the whole thing to rattle. A loud sneeze came from other side of the phone with some chuckles following after it.

"Come on, Isaac. I know you can't stand your job and that boss of yours. How long will it take before you go postal?" He got a point there. Working finances was the last thing I ever wanted to do, but I really didn't have anywhere else to go. My original plan was to join the military since my dad and my grandfather served in the army. However, I failed boot camp because the drill sergeant, who was always acting like he had a fucking telephone pole up his ass, felt I had a problem with following orders. Not exactly true, I'm just... a very independent guy. On the other hand, I'm stronger than your average office worker and I still do some of the trainings I learned from boot camp to keep in shape.

I sigh as I give Eddy his answer, "I already went postal on everybody, remember? I dream about it every night and I sleep very well when I get those dreams. My favorite is when I kill them _and_ get paid for doing it. Anyway, spit it out already. What do you want?" I rub my eyes when I see the printer's lights still flashing.

"Ok, ok so you know Mass Effect 3 came out two weeks ago, right?" I can already feel a migraine crawling around in my head when I hear his stupid question. "I already played the fucking game. I thought you would be finished with it before then, what took you so long?" I ask him.

I sort of expected him to call me about the game when it came out like he usually does with new ones, but he never did surprisingly until now. A long sigh came over the phone as I listen to his answer. "Well... I was on probation from the... eh, never mind. Anyway, I finished the game last night and while I love the whole series, the ending fucking sucked so bad. Bioware has fucking dropped the ball. Can you believe that shit, man?"

While Eddy was talking shit about the ending, I gave up fixing the machine and began walking back to my cubicle. "Yeah, ridiculous ain't it? Look, I'll call you later when I get off work and we can cry about it over a beer okay?" The truth is I just want him to shut the hell up. Seriously, it's disturbing to see and hear a grown man crying over a fucking video game and the fact that it's Eddy just makes it worse.

Eddy immediately agrees to my suggestion, "Great! I'll pick you up and take you to Mickey's bar tonight. Maybe we can score some chicks!" He began chuckling, no doubt having whatever fantasy he got playing in his mind.

"Eddy... the only thing you gonna score is STD... or a lost asshole virginity to a male hooker. Either way, you lose." I hang up on him before he could retort back, hopefully that scared him into not doing anything stupid. Stupid fat bastard thinks he's attractive to females. Speaking of females though...

"BOYD!" Shit...

I turn around to see Ms. Kirkland stomping over to me. An overweight woman with an outdated sense of fashion, this bitch is the bane of my life. "Can I help you, ma'am?" I ask with disinterest. Frankly, I just want this bitch to drop dead already. With a boss like this one, I should've been on the cast of Horrible Bosses. Favorite movie by the way.

"Shut the hell up and listen, you no-good son of a bitch! When I ask you to fix the fucking printer, I expect you to fix it! And what do I see when I came back to the printer? BROKEN! A fucking broken printer because you didn't fucking fix it! Now explain to me why you didn't fix the goddamn printer!"

Good God, no wonder why her ex-husband left her. "Well, I tried and I couldn't get it fixed so I figured I'll leave it to someone who knows what the hell they're doing." I forget how I ever took this job. Oh, right... because no one else would hire me. The Bitch's face was red in anger by the time I finish my explanation.

She opens her mouth to cuss at me more before I stop her, "Hey, why is Dave naked over there?" I point at a empty spot next to the vending machine. She swivels around and I made my escape before she could see she've been tricked.

Yeah... I think it's safe to say now is the time for that drink.

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><p>I stood outside on the sidewalk with my briefcase in my hand, waiting for Eddy to show up in that goddamn Prius of his. I called him earlier to tell him to go ahead and pick me up so I can get away from my boss. Being the obedient cousin he is, he told me he'll be here in a jiffy. It's been twenty minutes since he said that.<p>

A sigh blew out from my lips as I stare at my watch. _10:12 p.m. _Take your time, Eddy. It's not like I'm waiting out here to be mugged.

"The End is Nigh! The End is Nigh!"

What the hell is that? I suddenly hear some yelling and look over to the side where it came from. It was a homeless man in dark rags that contrast greatly with my tan overcoat screaming, "The End is Nigh, the End is Nigh!" Great, he's one of those Armageddon freaks. He was holding a sign that had a painting of a crumbling Big Ben, which looks like a professional masterpiece, as he slowly walks past me while swinging his sign around, showing the painting to the world. He didn't even take any notice of me.

He repeated "The End is Nigh" mantra as he disappears down the subway steps on the other side of the streets. Well... I have no idea what the fuck just happened. A guy showed up out of nowhere, screaming Armageddon, then disappeared. I seriously gonna need that drink now.

A series of honking immediately caught my attention and I groan when I saw who it was. A lime green Prius pulled over on the sidewalk in front of me and I walk to the passenger window with my briefcase in hand. It rolled down to reveal an obese man wearing glasses with dark messy hair and a bushy beard sitting in the driver seat.

Meet Big Eddy.

"Isaac, my man! How you been, dude?" He stretches out a greasy hand toward me, hoping for a five that I wasn't going to give. I just stare at him instead. "Eddy... why didn't you ever get a truck instead of a Prius? A_ lime green Prius_. What the fuck is this?" He puts his hand down and I got into the car, putting my briefcase in the backseat. I look back to see Eddy staring at me. "Come on, dude. A Prius is awesome and I can easily afford it. This," he began rubbing the dashboard, "is my baby." That's... very disturbing.

"Whatever, let's just go. I need a drink from dealing with my boss." Eddy began laughing at my statement. I always complained to him about my boss and how I had to put up with her shit every single day. I hate that bitch more than anything in this goddamn universe. Hell, I even went as far as calling her ex-husband before to figure out why the hell he would marry a woman like that.

His answer: "I lost a bet, which was the worst fucking thing that ever happened in my life. Don't ever let that happen to you, sonny."

Don't worry about it, old man. Isaac Boyd belongs to nobody.

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><p>The fifteen minute drive to Mickey's was the shortest fifteen minutes of my life. I could drink a damn barrel to forget all about Kirkland. Shit, my hatred for her is not healthy at all. I don't have an anger management problem though. Nope, not at all.<p>

We finally came upon a small brick building with a red neon sign that said **Mickey's Sports Bar**. Eddy and I got out of his shitty car and made our way to the entrance. "You know what sucks, dude?" Eddy asks me as we both went inside. Inside was your typical sports bar; a large room that have a long wooden bar with a variety of beverages, a couple pool tables, several round tables to eat at, wall-mounted TVs that show ball games, and a game arcade. It was crowded as always with the only available seats at the bar. A karaoke was playing right now, causing Eddy to nod his head along with the music.

"What does?" I ask Eddy as we took our seats at the bar. I raise an eyebrow when he suddenly became gloomy. "I can't believe they butchered Mass Effect like that. One of the greatest video game series ever and they ended it like that. They gave us an ending that makes no fucking sense." Jesus, not this again.

I put a hand on his shoulder,hoping to get his attention and snap him out of it. "Look, Eddy. Just forget about the game for now. Have a drink and enjoy yourself. That sound good for you?"

Eddy just looks at me with wide eyes, no doubt wondering why this bastard is acting nice to him, then gave a blinding smile. "Thanks, Isaac!" I gave him a nod and turn toward the bartender. "What's up, Mickey?"

Mickey Bravo, as he likes to be called, is someone I would describe as a goddamn grizzly bear. Standing at an intimidating height with muscles of a gorilla and a lumberjack beard that puts Duck Dynasty to shame, he's a guy you do not want to fuck with. Those who do fuck with him gets fucked up... badly. Despite his intimidating stature, he's actually a really nice guy... somewhat. Like I said, he can either be a grizzly (which he mostly is) or a grizzly that tolerates you.

Mickey was cleaning a glass when I caught his attention. "Business is going smoothly, Boyd. That's all I need. By the way, tell Dave I want my money or there's going be problems." Did he just threaten my coworker? Eh, no skin off my back. "Sure... I'll let him know." Poor Dave... that's what gambling gets you, dumbass. A scary motherfucker on your ass.

"What can I get you and your friend tonight?" He asks me. Well, I could use something strong. "Get me whiskey. Straight up." Hell yeah, I really gonna need that.

Eddy suddenly slams his hand on the bar, startling me. "Me too! Let's do shots!" Shots? What the fuck is this, a college party? I slowly turn my eyeballs toward him. Are we even related? At all? Just... tell me I'm adopted.

"Eddy... ah, fuck it. Mickey, you heard the man." Doing shots would get me drunk more quickly and I just want to forget about everything now. Mickey gave me a nod and went to get the bottle and the glass.

Eddy was still nodding his head to the karaoke. "Alright!" He slaps me on the back. "Let's get fucked up and forget everything that happens tonight!" My naïve cousin... that's exactly my plan and I tend to follow it.

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><p>"I never believe~the love of my beloved~"<p>

Eddy finally stopped his drinking after the tenth shot when he realized he couldn't beat me. He somehow still got drunk from only ten shots of whiskey, which baffles the shit out of me. I've seen sixteen years old girls handle their drinks better than Eddy.

He then drunkenly made his way to the karaoke stage where he is now singing a song. I have to admit though, he has a hell of a singing voice. I raise an informal toast to his direction and knocked the drink back, feeling the burn crawling down my throat.

"The forbidden heart of my beloved~the one I can never touch~"

This is the first time I ever seen Eddy sing and this was an entirely different side of him that I never seen before. His eyes was closed behind his glasses as he held the microphone to his face, singing a love song I never heard of. Even when drunk, he still sings as if he's possessed by Elvis Presley.

Huh, maybe he does have a chance of scoring some tonight.

"You want more, Boyd?" I hear someone ask me and turn quickly to the voice, almost falling out of my seat. My eyes found two copies of Mickey holding the now-empty whiskey bottle that I had drank out of. Holy shit, I get drunk too easily.

"Hey, Mickey! When... when did you get a twin, man!?" I yell at him, slurring my speech. Yep, too much whiskey.

Mickey just stares at me for a moment and took my glass as well. "Never mind." He then left to tend to other customers, leaving me here to brood. Dammit, Mickey! I need my whiskey to forget all about that bitch!

Wait a minute... I just realize something. If I'm drunk and Eddy's drunk, then who the hell is gonna drive us home? Shit, I didn't think this far. No wait, I know what exactly I want to do right now. I'm going go take a shit on Eddy's Prius and maybe I can convince him a Krogan did it.

HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! Oh, man. I knew I was evil, but damn this takes the cake.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Still chuckling inwardly from my evil scheme, I turn to tell the person to fuck off before my eyes widen. It was a gorgeous woman with dirty blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and had cute freckles that dotted her cheeks. Even when wearing a pair of faded jeans with black slippers and a purple leather jacket, she was easily the most stunning woman I have seen all night. But the most unique characteristic that I'm staring at right now was her eyes.

They were red.

The mirthful eyes staring back were gleaming as if they were rubies themselves. Lots of questions can be brought up about her sense of fashion, but there's no questioning how she caught my attention.

Definitely sober now.

"Ah..." I cough in my hand. No slurring! I don't want to fuck this opportunity up. "Go ahead, nobody's sitting there." Granted, Eddy was sitting there, but now he's not and too bad for him.

She gives me a playful smirk before slinking in her seat. "And why not? Hard to believe someone like you would be by yourself." She glances over at Mickey, who came over when she sat, and just held up two fingers. Mickey gave a quick nod as if he already knew what she wanted and went over to the beverage section. Is she a regular here? If so, then how come I never seen her before in my life?

"What's your name, stranger?" Her question snapping me back to reality. When I turn to meet her eyes, I immediately became trapped in her red gaze, unable to turn my eyes away from hers. Well, it's my turn to work the charm.

"The name's Boyd. Isaac Boyd." I finish with a smirk. Sue me later, I'm on a not-so-secretive mission now.

She giggles at my terrible impression of Bond. Damn, I normally do better than that. Probably because I'm not sober now.

Mickey then showed up with the lady's drink, two of them in fact. He slides one in front of me and I caught it to see what it was. _Corona_. Huh, not bad, but...

"Mickey, I didn't-" The lady suddenly puts her hand over mine to stop me. I gaze back at her to see the smirk that never left her face. "Don't worry about it. The drink is on me." Well, Corona is not a bad beer so I guess I can handle it.

I give her my own smirk before leaning closer to her. "And what's the name of the kind lady buying me a beer?" I really want to know more about her, especially how she got those red eyes. Never seen red eyes before.

She also leans closer, only to bypass my face and held her lips to my ear. "My name is Eve. Remember it." Oh, I'll remember it alright.

Eve... Such a nice name.

She leans back and looks over at where Eddy was, who was still singing that song of his. "He's a pretty good singer don't you think?" She asks, taking a sip of her beer.

Yeah... he is. To be honest, it was kind of a miracle that he made it this far. Eddy's parents died in a car wreck when he was thirteen, leaving me to take care of my cousin who was a mess. School life had never been easy for him either. He was fat and other people bullied him severely and pranked him every day throughout high school. Of course, that ended when I showed up to kick everybody's asses and told them that Eddy was under my protection.

Only I can bully him and I have a reason for it.

"Yeah, who knew my cousin could sing." I answer Eve as I take my own sip of the Corona. She looks back at me with a raised eyebrow. "That's your cousin?" I gave her a nod. "Wow, can you sing as well as he can?"

Can I sing as well as he can? Heh, nope. I'm not really into music that much anyway. Sure, I do listen to rock-and-roll and country music, but that's about it. I don't give a shit who sang them or what's the name of the song, I just listen to them.

"It'll be a cold day in hell before I'll ever measure up to him." I nod toward Eddy. "Besides, I'm pretty ignorant to it anyway so I don't bother much with it."

I finish drinking the Corona and bit my tongue. The Corona, along with two full straight up whiskey, was beginning to take a toll on me. It's amazing that I made it this far, but now the whole room is spinning and my head is starting to hurt.

"Pop Quiz time." Huh, wh-what is she talking about?

"Ok, current employment?" Oh, let's just... go along with it.

"Finances. I wanted to join the army but I couldn't make the cut."

I try to look at her but the godawful headache and the dizziness force me to close my eyes and lean further against the bar.

"That's a shame. Political affiliations?"

Easy. "I hate politics." For real. I mean, who enjoys politics?

"So true. Darkest personal experience?"

Darkest experience... my dad. The situation with my dad was something I have always been trying to forget and I even tried to make Eddy forget as well. That was the worst time of my life.

"Too personal. Let's just say I'm here now and move on."

I hear giggles leaving her lips, she obviously enjoying this. Why the hell did she even ask me that question anyway? The headache was not helping at all, in fact it's getting worse. Was my drink spiked? Shit.

"Final question, Isaac. Would you consider yourself a good guy or a bad guy?"

Who am I? A good guy or a bad guy? That question keeps ringing in my mind. I really don't know myself, but I just have to tell Eve what I really think.

I force my head up to look at her, which was fucking difficult since my whole vision feels like it's upside-down. Her face was dim from the lighting and her red eyes seem to glow.

"Well, I'm neither. I really don't give a shit about what happens to other people and if I gotta do something to help them, I have to benefit from it. However, if I see somebody in trouble in front of me, I have to help them. Otherwise, my conscience would never let me live it down."

It's shitty and hypocritical of me to say this, but this is how I survive in this world.

My gaze drop from her face and I could see the darkness covering the edges of my vision. I suddenly feel something wet touch my cheek and I realize she kissed me.

"Thank you for telling me that, Isaac. Looks like you just might be the one."

The one? Oi, I'm not ready for commitment yet. I look up, only to see an empty seat. I immediately got out of my seat, almost stumbling and I look around the place.

She was gone.

Damn, I totally forgot to ask for her number... and about those eyes of her's.

My headache finally became a minor throb in the back of head, which I can ignore, and I look around to find Eddy. Time to blow this joint.

Eddy wasn't on the stage when I looked so I turn to the bar where Mickey was serving a female customer a drink.

"Mickey!" He turns his attention toward me. "Where's Eddy at?" He better not be doing anything stupid, I'll skin his ass alive if he does.

Mickey jerks his head toward the exit. "He left a couple minutes ago while you were still drinking." WHAT!? "Can't believe you never noticed."

I glare at Mickey when he said that. "What the hell are you talking about? I was speaking with Eve just then." When I said that, he just raises an eyebrow at me and gave a snort.

"You hit your head or something, Boyd? You never had any company all night other than your friend, Eddy."

Huh? What the fuck is he talking about!? Eve ordered two fucking Corona from him and he doesn't even remember! This lying bastard!

"Fuck this!" I need to find Eddy before he gets himself into trouble. I stomp over to the exit before I hear Mickey shouting at me. "You need to pay for your drinks!"

"Put them on Dave's tab!" I shove the door open and made my way to the parking lot. The Prius is still there, thank God. At least I know Eddy ain't drunk driving... unless he stole some poor bastard's car and took it on a joyride. I seriously doubt it though, Eddy doesn't know how to steal shit.

This brings up another problem though. If Eddy didn't take his Prius then where the hell is he? An aggravated sigh escape my lips and I threw my head back to look at the sky. A full moon is out and Eddy is missing. Knowing my luck, a fucking werewolf just might attack me tonight.

Goddamn it, Eddy. Where the fuck are you?

"The End is Nigh! The End is Nigh!"

What the fuck!? I swirl around to see the same guy in rags from before, who was still holding up his Big Ben painting and walking down the street. How did he even get here?

"The End is Nigh! The End is Nigh!"

Shit. I really don't want to deal with people like these, but I don't have a choice. Maybe he knows where Eddy is. I immediately jog over to the man, who was still ignoring me.

"Hey!" Still ignoring me. "Yo! Have you seen a guy around? About my height, big, wear glasses, and a beard. Have you seen him?"

He never stops his mantra as he gazes at the moon, even after I finished asking him about Eddy. Great, a fruitcake stuck with a fear of God.

"Oi! Have you se-" I stop when he suddenly held up his painting against the moonlight. The light reflected every little details of the painting and like I said before, it's a masterpiece. Now that I'm up close to it, I could see some figures in the painting. It looks like they have some kind of blue uniform or something, but it's too small to really tell what they are.

The homeless man lowers the painting to stare at me with his dark eyes. I could see his severely tanned skin past his gray beard and I could see the sadness hidden his eyes.

"The End is Nigh," he told me softly. "Only you can stop it."

What? No, I... Ah, snap out of it. Don't be pulled into this guy's problems.

I was about to say something when he suddenly looks over my shoulder, causing me to turn around to see the what it was.

It was Eddy.

He's standing in the middle of the damn street with his back toward me, staring up at the moon like a zombie. I breathe out a sigh of relief and left the man, walking over to Eddy.

"Eddy, did you realize I was about to have a heart attack when I couldn't find you?" I tell him as I stood right behind him. He didn't respond to me, still staring at the moon like a love-stricken fool.

"Eddy?" No answer. "Dammit, Eddy. Let's just go home already." I grab his shoulder and turn him to face me, only to freeze at what I saw.

Eddy's normal brown eyes were replaced by glowing pale blue that covered his eyeballs behind his glasses and he also had darkish blue veins edging out from the corner of his eyes. I've seen this before, but it was in-

Eddy suddenly lunges at me, causing me to scamper back and I grab a fistful of his shirt with both hands to hold him back.

"Eddy! It's me, Isaac! Snap out of it!"

He just growls at me, making me jerk my head back as he tries to grab it.

"Goddamn it, man! Don't make me do this!"

He tries to push against me, but I'm in better shape than he is, still keeping him out of reach. He's still making this tough by acting like a fucking animal.

"EDDY!"

Fuck it! I rear my fist back and punch him right in the face, which knocks him down. "Fuck, Eddy! Why the fuck would you attack me?!" The hell is wrong with him!?

Eddy was just laying flat on his back, staring up at the moon with his glowing eyes, his glasses broken from when I punched him. I look closely at his eyes and the veins surrounding them, shaking my head. This ain't possible, this ain't possible! I must've had too much to drink.

"Eddy, are y-"

I never finish my sentence as my vision shifts sideways, making me lose my sense of balance and I fell next to Eddy. The headache from before is also starting to grow, making me grit my teeth from the pain. I can feel the darkness taking over my vision as I look over at where Eddy was laying.

My skin grew cold when Eddy suddenly turns his disfigured eyes toward mine. A shiver went through my spine when he spoke four words in a guttural tone. Four words that started everything, including the end of my life.

**_"The End is Nigh."_**

That was the last thing I heard before I finally pass out.

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><p><em>Well, Well, Well... Look what we have here. Why you were chosen, I'll never know but perhaps you may be the one. Will you succeed where others failed? Will you overcome your worst nightmare and not have yourself as your own enemy? Can you save the fate of every single being when she couldn't? We'll have to see. Good luck in the future... you're going to need it.<em>

The first thing I felt waking up was the violent shaking my body was going through. What was that voice talking about? I push off whoever was shaking me, getting a grunt from the person. What the hell happened last night? I finished talking to Mickey and...

Eddy!

I gasp and push myself up to find Eddy. He's in trouble and I have to save him!

"Stay down, idiot!"

Who the hell is that? I turn toward the voice to see a skinny man in brown clothing close-by staring at me with fear. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off when a sharp pain erupted from the back of head, causing me to slump forward onto my knees. Fuck! Felt like somebody took a baseball bat and went to town on me.

I move my fingers to the back of my head and held it up back in front of me. There's blood on my fingers, meaning...

I see a pair of strange looking boots entering my eyesight and I glare up at the man, only for my eyes to widen at who it was.

With an ugly face and four eyes, he stood over me, glaring at me with hate in those two pair of eyes. He had on some kind of brown futuristic armor with another futuristic rifle in his hand. I knew exactly what he was and I don't believe it.

A batarian. An actual fucking batarian that I am seeing with my own eyes.

I must be dreaming. Batarians don't exist, they do not exist!

He gave me a sickly grin before lifting the butt of his gun up and the last thing I remember is darkness.

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><p><strong>Well, that's my first chapter. Love it? Hate it? Leave your reviews to let me know what you think.<strong>


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